More than 6,000 signatures collected to replace 'distorted' statue of Martin Luther King Jr. in Buffalo park

Samuel Herbert earlier this year embarked on his quest to revamp the eight-foot bust, a fixture in Martin Luther King Jr. Park since it was first unveiled in 1983. (Facebook / Restore Our Community Coalition, Buffalo)

A New York activist says he has gathered more than 6,000 signatures to replace an unflattering sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. that sits in a Buffalo park that also bears the name of the legendary civil rights leader.

Samuel Herbert earlier this year embarked on his quest to revamp the eight-foot bust, a fixture in MLK Park since it was first unveiled in 1983.

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“We are calling for the removal of the current Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ‘statue’ in MLK park, replacing it with an enlarged life size identical replica of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” the petition, launched in January, reads.

“Our very legitimate criticism of the distorted image on exhibit arises out of the fact that it not only fails to exhibit any of the physical features of The Reverend, but it also suggests an insulting stereotype.”

“It wasn’t like he attempted to create a likeness and then failed at that. He knew he was making a lightly abstracted work that would convey the dignity, strength and power of Martin Luther King, and the whole civil rights movement,” Cardoni told the Buffalo News earlier this year.

“I loved it from the start. I still love it.”

Herbert is hoping to collect 10,000 signatures before he presents the matter to city council and state lawmakers, but his campaign has already caught the interest of at least one artist hoping to help.

Lee Speight, a North Carolina-based sculptor who spotted Herbert’s petition online, said he’s willing to offer a life-size, 5-foot-7 model of King he made out of terracotta to stand in the Buffalo park.

“I want that gentleman that did the work in Washington, D.C., on the National Monument,” Herbert told WIVB, adding that while he is in talks with the artist, he is more focused on getting his last couple of thousand signatures.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, located in West Potomac Park near the National Mall in Washington D.C., was unveiled in August 2011. It was sculpted by Lei Yixin.